What's the most remote place in the continental US?"The Canada part of the USA" Huh? Perhaps you meant the Canadian part of North America? Remoteness is certainly more abundant in northern Canada than in the 48 states, with parts of Alaska also be quite remote.

How can I avoid an encounter with a large feline?The traditional method is to bring along a goat. When the tiger charges, release the goat and the tiger will go after it instead of you. I imagine a small skittish person would work in place of a goat.

Black bears and torch lights@Russell: The numbers on predatory bears is higher than what I remember from a earlier study, but you still need to keep that in perspective. As the article says, there are millions of encounters between humans and bears, and only a very small fraction result in injury. Since 1960, the average has been one such death per year. Compare that to over 40 deaths per year in the US from getting hit by lightning.

How do I find north using a watch?Another way to look at the halfway rule is that it compensates for the hour hand going around twice in a day, when the sun only goes around once in a day. Personally, I find it easier to think about the geometry than to try to remember rules of thumb.